I'm a singer and cook trapped in the body of an HR professional. Experimenting is the name of my game. What you'll find here is a mixed bag: a treasure trove of traditional and fusion foods, all with two common ingredients, enthusiasm and love.

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The Singing Chef

August 11, 2009

Mirchi ki Sabzi

I had this bag of chillies that I have no idea why I bought. My friend suggested that I pick it up so I could make Mirchi ka Salan. The idea seemed nice and all that, but I never did get around to making mirchi ka salan. After all, that dish tastes best with some authentic biryani on the side. Now, I’d think it is an effort to make biryani itself. So, for me to make biryani and then this mirchi ka salan would be a bit much. (It would be easier to go to Hyderabad than to try cooking all that at home, don’t you think?) Though I must admit, I ALWAYS buy these chillies hoping secretly to make salan!

The bag of chillies lay languishing in the crisper until one Saturday afternoon, when I felt really sorry for them and decided to do “something” about them. I decided to cook them in a standard tomato onion gravy. In addition to the Aashirwad Multipurpose cooking paste, I now have access to Maggi Bhuna Masala too. But when I started to make this, I got carried away by different things I saw around me in the kitchen and the resultant dish was nothing like what I’d intended it to be. But it was great tasting nonetheless. I served it with some jeera rice and while I was happy for sure, I had one very happy husband at home that afternoon. The one question he repeated over and over was: I know you experimented, but do you remember what you actually put in this?

Heat a kadhai and add the contents of the Bhuna Masala. (Alternatively, you could heat some oil and fry 1 chopped Onion, ½ tsp Ginger Paste, ½ tsp Garlic Paste. When the onions are fried, add 1 chopped tomato and fry for a minute or two. Add a little water and make it into a gravy.) Add the chopped chillies and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the ground paste and fry again for 2-3 minutes. Add a little water and bring to a boil.

I am certain this dish would taste as great with rotis as it does with rice.

I or The Spouse would buy this often so he could make Mirchi Ka Salan but they always used to rot before we got down to it. Then once we made bajjis. Then we made salan. That was just two times we used them, out of the many times we bought them.

Shyam: In he absence of bhuna masala, chop an onion finely and saute it in some oil. Add some ginger and garlic paste. When the onions are fried, add a chopped tomato and saute the mixture until it forms a gravy of sorts.

I know what you mean about needing biryani to go with mirchi ka salan- with just plain rice it gets a bit monotonous, but still, I hope you get around to making it one day as it is a masterpiece of a dish- rich and roasty-fragrant- well worth the effort. (and definitely best when made the day before a biryani to divide the work!)

But this sauce you made looks really good; that packet looks like its a big time-saver in onion-browning time, and you added a nice touch of richness from the peanut-sesame. *clap clap*

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I'm someone who loves to talk. About everything and nothing. Hours of discussions with friends, steaming hot mugs of coffee, arguments, laughter, talking about the old times, looking forward to the new... nothing makes me happier... ever!